Note: (Animate CC only) The Text Layout Framework is deprecated and the functionality is unavailable with Animate CC. If a FLA file containing TLF Text, previously saved with an older version of Animate, is opened with Animate CC, then TLF is converted to Classic Text.

Beginning in Flash Professional CS5, you can add text to a FLA file using a new text engine called the Text Layout Framework (TLF). TLF supports a wider array of rich text layout features and fine control of text attributes. TLF text allows greater control of text than the previous text engine, now called Classic text.

More paragraph styles, including multi-column support with gutter width, last line justification options, margins, indents, paragraph spacing, and container padding values.

Control of more Asian text attributes, including Tate Chu Yoko, Mojikumi, Kinsoku Shori Type, and Leading model.

You can apply attributes such as 3D Rotation, Color Effects, and Blend Modes to TLF text without placing it in a movie clip symbol.

Text can flow across multiple text containers. These containers are called threaded or linked text containers.

The ability to create right-to-left text for Arabic and Hebrew scripts.

Support for bi-directional text, where right-to-left text can contain elements of left-to-right text. This support is important for embedding English words or Arabic numerals within Arabic/Hebrew text, for example.

Adobe recommends...

About TLF text

Before you begin

When creating text, it is important to understand the following fundamentals of working with text in Animate:

There are two types of TLF text containers, point text, and area text. A point text container’s size depends solely on the text it contains. An area text container’s size is independent of the amount of text it contains. Point text is the default. To change a point text container to area text, resize it with the selection tool or double-click the small circle at the bottom-right corner of the container bounding box.

TLF text requires that ActionScript 3.0 and Flash Player 10 or higher are specified in the publish settings of your FLA file. For more information, see Publish settings.

When using TLF text, the Property inspector has three display modes, depending on the current type of text selection:

Text tool mode; when the Text tool has been selected in the Tools panel and no text is selected in the Animate document.

Text object mode; when an entire text block is selected on the Stage.

Text edit mode; when a text block is being edited.

You can create three types of text block with TLF text, depending on how you want the text to behave at runtime:

Read Only: when published as SWF file, the text cannot be selected or edited.

Selectable: when published as SWF file, the text is selectable and can be copied to the clipboard, but is not editable. This setting is the default for TLF text.

Editable: when published as SWF file, text is selectable and can be edited.

Unlike Classic text, TLF text does not support PostScript Type 1 fonts. TLF supports only OpenType and TrueType fonts. When working with TLF text, PostScript fonts are not available in the Text > Font menu. If you apply a PostScript Type 1 font to a TLF text object using one of the other font menus, Animate substitutes the _sans device font instead. When working with Classic text, all installed PostScript fonts are available in the Font menus.

TLF text requires a specific ActionScript library to be available to Flash Player at runtime. If this library is not already present on the playback computer, Flash Player automatically downloads it. For more information about the library, see Publishing SWF files with TLF text.

TLF text cannot be used as a layer mask at author-time. To create a mask with text, create the mask with ActionScript 3.0 or use Classic text for the mask. See Masking display objects in the ActionScript 3.0 Developer’s Guide.

Anti-aliasing settings for TLF text are not reflected on the Stage until the Animate file is exported as a SWF file. To see the effect of anti-aliasing settings, use the Control > Test command or the File > Publish command.

To use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), use ActionScript to apply a stylesheet. For more information, see Applying cascading style sheets in the ActionScript 3.0 Developer’s Guide.

TLF has extensive ActionScript APIs for creating and manipulating text flows at runtime. These APIs enable more features like text decoration, in-line images, the ability to read HTML and TLFMarkup languages, and others useful for creating dynamic content.

Converting between Classic and
TLF text

When you convert a text object from one text engine to the other, Animate preserves most of the formatting. However, because the text engines are different in their capabilities, some formatting may be slightly different, including letter spacing and line spacing. Inspect the text carefully and reapply any settings that have been changed or lost.

If you need to convert text from Classic to TLF, try to do so only once rather than converting back and forth more than once. The same is true for converting TLF text to Classic text.

When converting between TLF and Classic text, Animate converts text types as follows:

TLF Read Only> Classic Static

TLF Selectable > Classic Static

TLF Editable > Classic Input

Publishing SWF files with TLF text

To function properly, all TLF text objects rely on a specific TLF ActionScript library, also called a Runtime Shared Library or RSL. Because the library is separate from your published SWF file, the SWF file size is minimized. During authoring, Animate provides the library. At runtime, after you have uploaded your published SWF file to a web server, the library is provided in the following ways:

The local computer. Flash Player looks for a copy of the library on the local machine it is playing on. If the SWF file is not the first to use TLF text on that computer, the computer already has a local copy of the library in its Flash Player cache. Once TLF text has been in use on the Internet for some time, most end user computers have a local copy of the library file. However, it is possible for Flash Player end users to disable this feature on their computer.

On Adobe.com. If no local copy is available, Flash Player
will query Adobe’s servers for a copy of the library. The library
only has to download one time per computer. After that, all subsequent
SWF files that play on the same computer will use the previously
downloaded copy of the library.

On your web server. If Adobe’s servers are not available
for some reason, Flash Player looks for the library in the web server
directory where the SWF file resides. To provide this extra level
of back-up, manually upload the library file to the web server along
with your SWF file. You can also specify an alternate path for the
library on your server to allow multiple SWF files in different locations
to point to a single instance of the library. More information about the
assets file is provided below.

When you publish a SWF file that uses TLF text, Animate creates an extra file named textLayout_X.X.X.XXX.swz (where the Xs are replaced by the version number) next to your SWF file. You can optionally choose to upload this file to your web server along with your SWF file. This allows for the rare case where Adobe’s servers are not available for some reason.

You can also avoid the need for Flash Player to do a separate download of the TLF assets by compiling the assets within your SWF file. You can do this in the ActionScript settings of your FLA file. However, remember that these assets add significantly to the size of your published SWF file and should only be included when download performance is not a concern. This feature can also be useful when Adobe servers are not available, such as when deploying SWF files on closed or private networks which may restrict access to outside URLs.

To compile the TLF ActionScript assets in published SWF files:

Choose File > Publish Settings.

Click the Animate Tab.

Click the Settings button next to the Script menu.

Click the Library Path tab.

Select Merged Into Code from the Default Linkage menu.

The following are recommendations for handling the TLF library
for different deployment scenarios

Web-based SWF file: use the default behavior of allowing
Flash Player to download the RSL if necessary.

AIR-based SWF file: Compile the RSL into the SWF file. This
way text functionality of the AIR application will not be compromised
while offline.

iPhone-based SWF: It is not recommended that you use TLF
on the iPhone for performance reasons. If you do, compile the TLF
code into the SWF because the iPhone cannot load RSLs.

When the TLF ActionScript assets are not embedded or available
on the local playback computer, there can be a slight delay in SWF
playback while Flash Player downloads the assets. You can choose
the type of preloader SWF that Flash Player displays while the assets
are downloaded. You choose the preloader by setting the Preloader
Method in the ActionScript 3.0 settings.

To set the Preloader Method:

Choose File > Publish Settings.

In the Animate tab, click the ActionScript 3.0 Settings button.

In the Advanced ActionScript 3.0 Settings dialog box, select
a method from the Preloader Method menu. The available methods are:

Preloader SWF: this is the default. Animate embeds a small preloader SWF file inside your published SWF file. This preloader displays a progress bar while the assets load.

Custom Preloader Loop: use this setting is you want to use a preloader SWF of your own.

The Preloader Method
setting is only available if the Default Linkage is set to Runtime
Shared Library (RSL).

Reducing SWF file size with TLF
text (CS5.5 only)

Most TLF text requires that a specific ActionScript library
be compiled into your SWF file. This library adds about 20k to the
file size.

If you need to keep the file size as small as possible, you can
prevent the ActionScript library from being included by limiting
your use of TLF text in the following ways:

Use only Selectable or Read Only TLF text types.

Do not give any TLF text instances an instance name in the Properties panel. This means that the text cannot be manipulated with ActionScript.

Even with these limitations, you can still take advantage of
the text layout capabilities of TLF text.

Working with character styles

Character styles are attributes that apply to a single
character or a set of characters, rather than to whole paragraphs
or text containers. To set character styles, you work with the Character
and Advanced Character sections of the Text Property inspector.

The Character section of the Property inspector includes the
following text properties:

Family

The name of the font. (Note TLF text only supports OpenType
and TrueType fonts.)

Style

Regular, Bold, or Italic. Faux italic and faux bold styles are not available to TLF text objects. Some fonts may also include more styles, such as Black, BoldItalic, etc.

Size

The size of the characters in pixels.

Leading

The vertical space between lines of text. By default, Leading
is expressed as a percentage but can also be expressed in points.

Color

The color of the text.

Tracking

The amount of space between the selected characters.

Highlight

The highlight color.

Kerning

Kerning: Adds or subtracts space between specific pairs of characters. TLF text automatically kerns characters using the kerning information built in to most fonts.

When Asian text options are disabled, the Auto-kerning check box appears. When Auto-kerning is on, kerning information in the font is used. When Auto-kerning is off, kerning information in the font is ignored and no kerning is applied.

When Asian text options are enabled, Kerning can have these values:

Auto: Uses the kerning information built in to the font for Latin characters. For Asian characters, applies kerning only to those characters that have kerning information built in to them. Asian characters which do not have kerning information are Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.

On: Always turns on kerning.

Off: Always turns off kerning.

Anti-alias

There are three anti-aliasing modes to choose from

Use Device Fonts: Specifies that the SWF file use the fonts
installed on the local computer to display the fonts. Typically,
device fonts are legible at most font sizes. This option doesn’t
increase the size of the SWF file. However, it forces you to rely
on the fonts installed on the user’s computer for font display.
When using device fonts, choose only commonly installed font families.

Readability: Allows for improved legibility of fonts, particularly
at small sizes. To use this option for a given text block, embed
the font used by the text object. For instructions, see Embed fonts for consistent text. (Do
not use this option if you intend to animate text; instead, use
the Animation mode.)

Animation: Creates a smoother animation by ignoring alignment
and kerning information. To use this option for a given text block,
embed the font used by the text block. For instructions, see Embed fonts for consistent text. For legibility,
use 10-point or larger type when specifying this option.

Rotation

Allows you to rotate individual characters. Specifying rotation for fonts that do not contain vertical layout information can give undesirable results.

Rotation can have the following values:

0° - Forces all characters to have no rotation.

270° - The primary use for 270-° rotation is Roman text with Vertical orientation. If used on other types of text, such as Vietnamese and Thai, this setting can give undesirable results

Auto - Specifies a 90 degrees counter-clockwise rotation for full width and wide characters only, as determined by the Unicode properties of the character. This value is typically used with Asian text to rotate only those characters that require rotation. This rotation is applied only in vertical text to return full width and wide characters to a vertical orientation without affecting other characters.

Underline

Places a horizontal line beneath the characters.

Strikethrough

Places a horizontal line through the center of the characters.

Superscript

Moves the characters slightly above the normal line of type
and reduces the character size. Superscript can also be applied
using the Baseline Shift menu in the Advanced Character section
of the TLF Text Property inspector.

Subscript

Moves the characters slightly below the normal line of type
and reduces the character size. Subscript can also be applied using
the Baseline Shift menu in the Advanced Character section of the
TLF Text Property inspector.

The Advanced Character section contains the following properties:

Link

Use this field to create a text hyperlink. Enter the URL
to load when the characters are clicked in the published SWF file
at runtime.

Target

Used with the link property to specify the window the URL loads into. Target can have these values:

_self - specifies the current frame in the current window.

_blank - specifies a new window.

_parent - specifies the parent of the current frame.

_top - specifies the top-level frame in the current window.

Custom - You can enter any custom string value you want into the Target field. You would do this in cases where you know the custom name of a browser window or frame that will already be open when your SWf file is playing.

Case

Allows you to specify how capital and lower-case characters
are used. Case can have these values:

Default: Uses
each character’s default typographic case.

Uppercase: Specifies that all characters use uppercase glyphs.

Lowercase: Specifies that all characters use lowercase glyphs.

Caps to Small Caps: Specifies that all capitalized characters
use small uppercase glyphs. This option requires that the selected
font contains small caps glyphs. Adobe Pro fonts typically have
these glyphs defined.

Lowercase to Small Caps: Specifies that all lowercase characters
use small uppercase glyphs. This option requires that the selected
font contains small caps glyphs. Adobe Pro fonts typically have
these glyphs defined.

Hebrew and Perso-Arabic scripts
such as Arabic do not distinguish between upper and lower case and
are not affected by this setting.

Digit Case

Lets you specify which numeral style to apply when working
with OpenType fonts that offer both lining and old style numerical
figures. Digit Case can have these values:

Default:
Specifies default digit case. The results are font-dependent; characters use
the settings specified by the font designer without any features
applied.

Lining: Lining (or “aligning”) figures are all-cap height
and typically monospaced in text faces so that they line up vertically
on charts.

Old Style: old style figures have what is considered to be
a traditional, classic look. They are only available for certain
typefaces, sometimes as the regular numerals in a font, but more
often within a supplementary or expert font. The figures are proportionately
spaced, eliminating the white spaces that result from monospaced
lining figures, especially around the numeral one. Old style figures
are most often used within text. Unlike lining figures, they blend
in without disturbing the visual line of the body copy. They also
work well in headlines since they're not as intrusive as lining
figures. Many typographic designers prefer them for most uses except
charts and tables.

Digit Width

Lets you specify whether to use proportional or tabular numerals when
working with OpenType fonts that offer both lining and old style
numerical figures. Digit Width can have these values:

Default: Specifies default digit width. Results are font-dependent;
characters use the settings specified by the font designer without
any features applied.

Proportional: Specifies proportional figures. Display typefaces
usually contain proportional figures. The total character widths
of these figures are based on the width of the numeral itself plus
a small amount of white space around it. For example, an 8 takes
up more width than a 1. Proportional figures can be either lining
or old style. Proportional figures don't align vertically and are unsuitable
for use in tables, charts, or other vertical columns.

Tabular: Specifies tabular figures. Tabular numerals are
numeric characters that each have the same total character width.
The character width is the width of the numeral itself plus the
white space on both sides. Tabular spacing (also called monospacing)
allows numerals to align vertically in tables, financial statements,
and other columns of figures. Tabular figures are usually lining
figures, meaning that they sit on the baseline and have the same
height as the capital letters.

Dominant Baseline

Available only when Asian options are turned on in the panel options menu of the Text Property inspector. Specifies the dominant (or primary) baseline for text that you explicitly select (as opposed to Leading Basis, which determines the baseline alignment of an entire paragraph). Dominant Baseline can have these values:

Auto: Resolved based on the selected Locale. This setting is the default.

Roman: For text, the font and point size of the text determine this value. For graphic elements, the bottom of the image is used.

Ascent: Specifies an ascent baseline. For text, the font and point size of the text determine this value. For graphic elements, the top of the image is used.

Descent: Specifies a descent baseline. For text, the font and point size of the text determine this value. For graphic elements, the bottom of the image is used.

Ideographic Top: Aligns the small characters in a line to the specified position of the large character's embox.

Ideographic Center: Aligns the small characters in a line to the specified position of the large character's embox.

Ideographic Bottom: Aligns the small characters in a line to the specified position of the large character's embox.

Alignment Baseline

Available only when Asian options are turned on in the panel
options menu of the Text Property inspector. Lets you specify a
different baseline for text or a graphic image within a paragraph.
For example, if you insert an icon into a line of text, you can
specify an alignment using the top or bottom of the image relative
to the text baseline.

Use Dominant: Specifies that
the Alignment Baseline use the Dominant Baseline setting.

Roman: For text, the font and point size of the text determine
this value. For graphic elements, the bottom of the image is used.

Ascent: Specifies an ascent baseline. For text, the font
and point size of the text determine this value. For graphic elements,
the top of the image is used.

Descent: Specifies a descent baseline. For text, the font
and point size of the text determine this value. For graphic elements,
the bottom of the image is used.

Ideographic Top: Aligns the small characters in a line to
the specified position of the large character's embox.

Ideographic Center: Aligns the small characters in a line
to the specified position of the large character's embox.

Ideographic Bottom: Aligns the small characters in a line
to the specified position of the large character's embox. This setting
is the default.

Ligatures

Ligatures are typographic replacement characters for certain
letter pairs, such as "fi" and "fl" that are available in some fonts.
Ligatures usually replace consecutive characters sharing common
components. They are part of a more general class of glyphs called
contextual forms. With contextual forms, the specific shape of a
letter depends on context, such as surrounding letters or proximity
to the end of a line. Note the Ligatures setting has no effect on
scripts where ligatures or connections between letters are the norm
and are not font-dependent. These scripts include Perso-Arabic,
Devanagari, and some others.

The Ligatures property can have
these values:

Minimum: Minimum
ligatures.

Common: Common or “standard” ligatures. This setting is the
default.

Uncommon: Uncommon or “discretionary” ligatures.

Exotic: Exotic or “historical” ligatures. Included in only
a few font families.

A script-based font with minimum ligatures (top) and common
ligatures (bottom).

Break

Used to prevent selected words from breaking at the end of
lines, such as proper names or words that could be misread when
hyphenated. The Break setting is also used to keep multiple characters
or groups of words together, such as clusters of initials, or a
first and last name. Break can have these values:

Auto: Line break opportunities are based on the Unicode character
properties in the font. This setting is the default.

All: Treats all characters in the selection as mandatory
line break opportunities.

Any: Treats any character in the selection as a line break
opportunity.

No Break: Treats no characters in the selection as line break
opportunities.

Baseline Shift

This control sets the Baseline Shift in percent or pixels.
Positive values move the character's baseline below the baseline
of the rest of the line; negative values move it above the baseline.
The Superscript or Subscript attribute can also be applied from
this menu. The default is 0. The range is +/- 720 points or percent.

Locale

As a character property, the selected locale affects the
shaping of glyphs via OpenType features in a font. For example,
languages like Turkish do not have ligatures such as fi and ff.
Another example is the capital version of 'i' in Turkish, which
is an uppercase i with a dot and not 'I'.

A separate flow-level
Locale property is available in the Container and Flow section of
the TLF Text Property inspector. All characters inherit the Container and
Flow Locale property unless it is set differently at the character
level.

Working with paragraph styles

To set paragraph styles, you work with the Paragraph and
Advanced Paragraph sections of the Text Property inspector.

The Paragraph section includes the following text properties:

Align

This property can be used with horizontal or vertical text.
Align to Start aligns the text along the starting edge of the container
(the left side for left-to-right text). Align to End aligns the
text along the ending edge of the container (the right side for
left-to-right text).

When the Paragraph Direction of the current
selection is right to left, the appearance of the alignment icons
reverses to indicate the correct direction.

Margins: Start and End

These settings specify the width of the left and right margins
in pixels. The default is 0.

Indent

Specifies the indentation of the first word of the selected
paragraph, in pixels.

Spacing: Before and After

Specifies pixel values for space before and after a paragraph.

Note: Unlike traditional page layout applications, the vertical space specified between paragraphs collapses when values overlap. For example, you have two paragraphs, Para1 followed by Para2. Para1 has 12 pixels of space after it (Space After), and Para2 has 24 pixels of space before it (Space Before). TLF produces 24 points between the paragraphs, not 36. If a paragraph begins at the top of a column, no extra space is added before the paragraph. In this case, you can use the first baseline offset options of the paragraph.

Text Justify

Text Justify: Indicates how justification is applied to text.
Text Justify can have these values:

Letter Spacing:
Distributes justification between letters.

Word Spacing: Distributes justification between words. This
setting is the default.

Direction

Specifies paragraph direction. Direction settings are only available if Right-to-Left options are turned on in Preferences. This setting applies only to the currently selected paragraph within the text container. A separate Direction property can be set for the container in the Container and Flow section of the TLF Text Property inspector. Direction can have these values:

Left to Right: Left to Right text direction. Used for most languages. This setting is the default.

Right to Left: Right-to-Left text direction. Used for Middle Eastern languages like Arabic and Hebrew, and languages based on Arabic script such as Farsi or Urdu.

The Advanced Paragraph options are only available when Asian
Options are turned on in Preferences or via the Options menu of
the TLF Text Property inspector.

The Advanced Paragraph section includes the following properties:

Mojikumi

Sometimes called the justification rule, this property determines how paragraph justification is applied. The justifiers that are applied based on this setting affect the spacing of punctuation and the leading. In the Roman version, the comma and Japanese periods take a full character's width but only half in East Asian. Also, the spacing between sequential punctuation marks becomes tighter, obeying traditional East Asian typographic conventions. Another item to note in the example below is the leading, applied to the second line of the paragraphs. In the East Asian version, the last two lines push left. In the Roman version, the second and following lines push left.

Mojikumi can have these values:

Auto: Justification is applied based on the Locale selected in Character and Flow section of the Text Property inspector. This setting is the default.

Space: Use Roman justification rules.

East Asian: Use East Asian justification rules.

Paragraphs with Roman (left) and East Asian (right) justification
rules.

Kinsoku Shori Type

Sometimes called the justification style. This property specifies options for handling Japanese kinsoku characters, which cannot appear at either the beginning or end of a line. Kinsoku Shori Type can have these values:

Auto: Resolved based on the Locale selected in the container and Flow section of the Text Property inspector. This setting is the default.

Prioritize Least Adjustment: Bases justification on either expanding or compressing the line, whichever gives a result closest to the desired width.

Push In Kinsoku: Bases justification on compressing kinsoku at the end of the line. Kinsoku expands if no kinsoku occurs or if that end-of-line space is insufficient.

Push Out Only: Bases justification on expanding the line.

Leading Model

Leading Model is a paragraph format composed of allowed combinations
of leading basis and leading direction.

Leading Basis determines
the baselines of two consecutive lines that are intended to be at
the distance specified by line height from each other. For example,
for two consecutive lines in a paragraph with Roman leading basis,
the line height is the distance between their respective Roman baselines.

Leading
Direction determines the direction in which line height is measured.
If leading direction is Up, line height is the distance of a line's
baseline from the previous line's baseline. If leading direction
is Down, line height is the distance of a line's baseline from the
next line's baseline.

Leading Model can have these values:

Roman; Up: Leading basis is Roman and leading direction is
Up. In this case, the line height is the distance of a line's Roman
baseline from the previous line's Roman baseline.

Ideographic Top; Up: Leading basis is Ideographic Top and
leading direction is Up. In this case, the line height is the distance
of a line's Ideographic Top baseline from the previous line's Ideographic
Top baseline.

Ideographic Center; Up: Leading basis is Ideographic Center
and leading direction is Up. In this case, the line height is the
distance of a line's Ideographic Center baseline from the previous
line's Ideographic Center baseline.

Ideographic Top; Down: Leading basis is Ideographic Top and
leading direction is Down. In this case, the line height is the
distance of a line's Ideographic Top baseline from the next line's
Ideographic Top baseline.

Ideographic Center; Down: Leading basis is Ideographic Center
and leading direction is Down. In this case, the line height is
the distance of a line's Ideographic Center baseline from the next
line's Ideographic Center baseline.

Auto: The Leading Model is resolved based on the Locale selected
in the Container and Flow section of the Text Property inspector.
(Ideographic Top; Down for Japanese and Chinese and Roman; Up for
all others. This setting is the default value.

Container and flow properties

Working with Container and Flow
properties

The container and Flow section of the TLF Text Property inspector controls options that affect the entire text container. These properties include:

Behavior

This option controls how the container expands as the amount
of text increases. Behavior has these options:

Single
Line

Multiline: This option is only available when the selected
text is area text. It is not available if the selected text is point
text.

Multiline No Wrap

Password: Makes characters appear as dots instead of letters
for password security. This option is only available in the menu
when the text type is Editable (for either point or area text).
It is not available for the Read Only or Selectable text types.

Max Chars

The maximum number of characters to allow in the text container. Enabled only for text containers whose type is set to Editable. The maximum value is 65535.

Alignment

Specifies the alignment of text within the container. Settings include:

Top: Vertically aligns text down from the top of the container.

Center: Centers lines of text in the container

Bottom: Vertically align lines of text up from the bottom of the container.

Justify: Evenly distributes lines of text vertically between the top and bottom of the container.

Note:

The Alignment options change appropriately when the text direction is set to Vertical.

Column Count

Specifies the number of columns of text within the container. This
property is only enabled for area text containers. The default value
is 1. The maximum value is 50.

Column Gutters

Specifies the spacing (or gutter) between each column in the selected container. The default value is 20. The maximum value is 1000. The unit of measurement is set according to the Ruler Units set in Document Settings.

Padding

Specifies the width of the margins between the text and the
selected container. Padding can be set for all 4 margins.

Border Color

The color of the stroke around the outside of the container.
The default is no border.

Border width

The width of the stroke around the outside of the container. Enabled
only when a border color is chosen. The maximum value is 200.

Background Color

The color of the background behind the text. The default
is no color.

First Line Offset

specifies the alignment of the first line of text with the
top of the text container. For example, you can make text fall a
specific distance below the top of the container. First line offset
is often referred to as first baseline offset when working with
Roman characters. In this case, the baseline is an imaginary line
on which the majority of the characters in a typeface rest. When
working with TLF, baseline can refer to any of the following, depending
on the language being used: Roman, Ascent, Descent, Ideographic
Top, Ideographic Center, and Ideographic Bottom.

First Line
Offset can have these values:

pt: Specify the distance
in points between the baseline of the first line of text and the
top inset of the frame. This setting enables a field for specifying
the point distance.

Auto: Aligns the top of the line, based on the tallest glyph,
with the top of the container.

Ascent: The distance between the top inset of the text container
and the baseline of the first line of text is the height of the
tallest glyph in the font (typically the "d" character in Roman
fonts).

Line Height: The distance between the top inset of the text
container and the baseline of the first line of text is the Line
Height (leading) of the line.

Direction

Used to specify either a left-to-right or right-to-left text
direction for the selected container. Left-to-right is used for
most languages. Right-to-left is used for Middle Eastern languages
such as Arabic and Hebrew, and languages based on Arabic script
such as Farsi or Urdu.

When applied at the paragraph level,
direction controls the left-to-right or right-to-left text direction
and the indents and punctuation used by the paragraph. When applied
at the container level, direction controls the column direction. Paragraphs
in the container inherit the direction attribute from the container.

Flowing text across multiple containers

Threading, or linking, between text containers is only
available for TLF (Text Layout Framework) text and does not apply
to Classic text blocks. Text containers can be threaded from frame
to frame, and inside symbols, as long as the threaded containers
are all within the same timeline.

To link 2 or more text containers:

Use the Selection tool or Text tool to select a text
container.

Click the In port or the Out port of the selected text container. (The In-port and Out-port positions on the text container are based on the container's flow direction and vertical or horizontal setting. For example, if the text flow is Left-to-Right and horizontal, the In port is on the upper left and the Out port is on the lower right. If the text flow is Right-to-Left, the In port is on the upper-right and the Out port is on the lower left.)

The pointer changes to the loaded text icon.

Then do one of the following:

To link to an
existing text container, position the pointer over the target text container.
Click the text container to link the two containers.

To link to a new text container, click or drag on an empty
part of the Stage. Clicking creates an object of the same size and
shape as the original; dragging lets you create a rectangular text
container of any size. You can also add a new container between
2 linked containers.

The containers are now linked
and text can flow between them.

To unlink two text containers, do one of the following:

Place the container in edit mode and then double-click the In-port or Out-port that you want to unlink. The text reflows in the first of the two containers.

Delete one of the linked text containers.

Note:

After creating a linkage, the second text container acquires the flow direction and locale of the first container. After un-linking, these settings persist in the second container instead of reverting to their pre-linkage settings.

Making text scrollable

You can make a TLF text container scrollable by adding
a UIScrollBar component to the text container. The text container
must have the following settings:

The Text Type must be set to Editable or Selectable.

The Container and Flow Behavior must be set to Multiline
or Multiline No Wrap.

Make a TLF text container scrollable:

Drag an instance of the UIScrollBar component from the
Components Panel onto the text container, closest to the side of
the container where you want to attach it.

The UIScrollBar
component snaps to the side of the text container.

Make a text container scroll horizontally:

Select the UIScrollBar component instance on the Stage.

Set the Direction of the UIScrollBar component to Horizontal
in the Component Parameters section of the Property Inspector.

Drag the UIScollBar component instance to the top or bottom
of the text container.

The UIScrollBar component snaps to
the top or bottom of the text container.

Using tab rulers (CS5.5 only)

You use the tab ruler to add tab stops to TLF text containers.
The tab ruler appears when a TLF text container is in edit mode.
The tab ruler displays tab stops defined for the currently selected
paragraphs. It also shows markers for paragraph margins and first-line
indent.

Hide or show tab ruler

Choose Text > TLF Tab Ruler.

Set type of tab

Double-click a marker or Shift-click several markers and
select a type from the menu.

Start, Center,
or End tab

Aligns the start, end, or center of the text to the tab stop.

Decimal tab

Aligns a character in the text to the tab stop. This character
is usually a decimal point, shown by default in the menu. To align
to a dash or other character, enter it in the menu.

Add tab

Click in the tab ruler. The tab marker appears at that location
in the tab ruler.

Move tab

Drag the tab marker to a new location. (To move it precisely,
double-click its tab marker and enter a pixel location for the marker.)

Delete tab

Drag its marker downward off the tab ruler until it disappears.
(If the text is vertically aligned, drag the marker to the left,
toward the text, until it disappears.)

Change unit of measure

Choose Modify > Document. Then select a unit from the Ruler Units menu in the dialog box.

Asian and right-to-left text

Creating Asian text

To work with properties that apply to Asian text, enable
the Asian Text options by doing one of the following:

Choose Show Asian Options from the panel options menu
in the Property inspector while TLF text is selected on the Stage.